On March 26, 2013, after 8:00 a.m, thirty-four-year-old practitioner Ms. Zuo Xianfeng, who is a teacher at Sandaogang Town middle school in Yilan County, shut her eyes for a while and was consequently scolded by Cui Lianlian acting under orders from political head Yang Yan. She was later dragged off the chair onto the ground and kicked by Cui Lianlian, who boasted, “Who saw me kick her? Did any of you see it?” At 9:10 a.m, Cui Lianlian and other prisoners continued to abuse Zuo Xianfeng non-stop.

Other practitioners took off their prison uniforms to protest the mistreatment. Seven or eight minutes later, division head Wang Min and guard Xu Wei angrily charged into the workshop holding electric batons. They pulled Ms. Zuo Xianfeng, who was in the restroom, outside. Ms. Zuo didn’t even have a chance to pull up her pants and was thrown to the ground by Wang Min. Practitioner Qi Guizhen said in protest, “We have not been allowed to use the toilet and we cannot take it any longer.” Wang Min slapped her face three times. Qi Guizhen is in her sixties, and many practitioners rushed forward to stop the guards from mistreating her further. Xu Wei began to shock practitioners with an electric baton and ordered them to return to their seats.

Soon after, several guards, including prison heads He and Ma, came in. They pulled practitioners who had taken off their prison uniforms out of their chairs. Around 19 practitioners had taken off their uniforms, and 16 of them were taken out of the room into the entrance to the workshop, where they were forced to squat. Zuo Xianfeng, He Peijie, Sun Xiumin, and other practitioners were taken to another place and made to sit on iron chairs. Zhang Baihua and Lin Peiyu, who still refused to put on prison uniforms, were subsequently also taken away and made to sit on iron chairs.

On the night of March 27, it was learned that Zuo Xianfeng had been punished. Many practitioners in the No. 1 Division decided not to go to bed, and wanted to speak to the prison head about the matter. Prison guards forced them to go to bed. The next day, Wang Min shouted, “Zuo Xianfeng is locked up in a small cell. She is not allowed to stand nor sit. She is being forced to kneel on the ground.”

On April 8-9, for two consecutive days, Ms. Zuo Xianfeng was seen being led by guards, walking in a squatting position. She was not allowed to walk upright. It was later verified that she was detained in the No. 2 Division. Every day she was closely followed by guards and she was not allowed to have her meals in the canteen. Her meals were brought back to the division.

Practitioner Zhang Baihua took off her prison uniform on April 3 and demanded to be released unconditionally. The next night, she was allowed to get off the iron chair. There were blisters all over the left side of her face as a result of electric shocks administered by a male guard using an electric baton. Wang Xiaowei, the head of the education section, also participated in torturing her. Practitioner Sun Xiumin later also took off her prison uniform and asked for unconditional release. On the night of April 7, she was released from the iron chair.

Practitioner Hao Peijie was made to sit on the iron chair on March 29 because she refused to perform slave labor. She went on a hunger strike on April 1 and was allowed to get off the iron chair on April 7.